That Empty Room at the End of the Hall
by sagittariusTITAN22
Summary: A scouting mission gone horrible wrong...


**Chapter 1**

_It was only supposed to be a routine scouting mission. No one was supposed to die_, Eren thought angrily. Tears fell from his eyes and ran down his face. They flew from his cheeks and landed on the gravestone before him. A single name was chiseled elegantly in its white marble: Levi Rivaille. Eren walked back to his room in the basement of the old castle. He walked slow and broken, as if his spirit and happiness had been ripped from him. When he reached his room, he fell on the bed. His face buried deep in the pillow. Eren let his emotions take control and he allowed himself to cry and cry and cry. He cried until he fell asleep, but even his dreamsant him solitude. The horrible mission played over in his head:

Eren had woken up, gotten dressed, and eaten breakfast as usual. He, Mikasa, and Armin had been called into Hanji's office. They had walked in to find Levi sitting in a chair absent-mindedly sipping his tea, with Hanji running around the office with a panicked look on her face.

"Uh...Hanji-san, is something wrong?" Eren asked confused.

"It's gone!"

Eren only stared blankly. Armin spoke up:

"The Titan we captured on the last expedition. It broke free and escaped last night."

Eren nodded.

"So now we have to chase after Hanji's pet. Tch," Levi sipped his tea, clearly annoyed.

The plan was brief. Leave HQ early in the morning and scout the surrounding area for the missing Titan. Hanji said it would be easy to find because she put a large collar on him for this specific reason. Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Levi, and Hanji were to meet in the courtyard ready to leave before dawn. A knock on his door woke Eren up. He fumbled out of bed and opened the door to see Levi glaring at him. He almost blushed, as he was wearing nothing but his boxers.

"H-heichou," Eren said sleepily.

"Tch. Get dressed or you'll be late."

"Yes sir," Eren closed the door and pulled his clothes on.

He ran out into the courtyard as he was still fastening on his 3DMG. Shortly after a mission recap, they mounted their horses and rode into the surrounding forest. It wasn't long before they heard Titans crashing through the trees. Quickly tethering the horses to a tree, they shot into the air and perched on a set of branches. A small group of Titans rant right under them causing the ground to shake. The tremors through Eren off balance and he toppled out the tree.

"Eren!" Mikasa yelled as she sent her lines into a lower branch and darted after him.

They both returned a few moments later. Levi glanced back.

"Tch."

Hanji's Titan had passed by with the small herd.

"I'll go after it. I'm faster," Levi said bluntly as he flew after it.

"Wait! Levi!" Hanji called to no effect, "he never listens anyways."

**Chapter 2**

Levi sped through the forest. His mind focused soley on Hanji's Titan which the rest of the group had left behind. Levi was just about to make himself noticeable to the Titan when a distressing sound came from his 3DMG. Pulling off to a branch he examined it and found that his lines had tangled inside. A massive knot clotted the spool. "Tch. Perfect," Levi muttered. The Titan disappeared into the forest.

Eren, Mikasa, and Armin sat lazily on the tree branch while Hanji scanned the trees.

"Hmmm...I'm going after him," Hanji spoke up, "you guys spread out. Use your smoke rounds if you have to. Remember: green if you find the Titan, red if your injured, and black if it's dead. Around sunset I'll shoot off a blue round and we'll rendezvous at the horses and head back."

The trio nodded and flew off in opposing direction. Hanji left last, but felt strangely uneasy.

Levi was still wrestling the knot out of hie 3DMG when he hear loud thundering foot steps approaching. This made him work faster. As an Aberrant crashed throught the branches, Levi shot his one good line up and got out of the way int he nick of time. The Titan tried and failed to reach him as he ascended. Before he could find a place to land, the same distressing sound arose form his 3DMG. For the first time a look of true fear swept Levi's face as he saw the hook dislodge from the tree it had pinned itself in. Everything stopped for a split second. Then it all reversed. Levi felt himself falling. He barely missed the Aberrants mouth as he fell, but hit the ground hard. The section of the 3DMG that held the wires jammed into his lower back. Levi let out a short scream of pain as he felt his legs go numb. The Titan's hand picked him up and opened its sick mouth. _Is this how I end? Humanity's Strongest Soldier just...dies? Without even fighting back?_ Levi thought as he mindlessly pulled the triggers on his sword, even thought nothing happened. The Aberrant bit into Levi's left shoulder so slowly, that he could hear every bone being crushed. He didn't allow himself to cry. Suddenly two flashes of light cut into the Titan's neck. It dropped Levi as it fell. He fell feet first, blood flying behind him like a banner; his right leg hitting the forest floor first. Levi could feel his femur shatter like glass. Eren landed next to him and fumbled with the smoke gun, sending a red signal high in the air. Tears streamed from Eren's face as he tore his cloak off and held it against Levi's shoulder.

"Heichou! Don't die! Focus on my..." Levi lost consciousness.

Mikasa was the first to notice Eren's signal. Automatically assuming Eren was injured, she raced in the direction of the signal. She met up with Armin and Hanji along the way. They had also assumed it had been Eren. They arrived to see Eren crying over Levi, who was just barely alive. Immediately Hanji stripped off the damaged 3DMG. She pulled him onto her back and looked at the trio with a never befor seen seriousness.

"Head straight to HQ as fast as possible. I'll take point."

With that they sped off in the direction of the horses.

**Chapter 3**

Hanji burst through doors and halls to get to the medical ward. Levi lay languid in her arms. Blood trailed behind them as the group trailed the corridors. Eren violently kicked the med ward's doors open and startled the nurses. They set Levi down on the nearest bed. In a few quick cuts, his trousers, shirt, and jacket had been removed. The trio sat in the corner watching in horror. Nurse after nurse grabbed gauze pad after gauze pad. Hanji left but soon ran back in with a cart full of rubbing alcohol and splints. She picked up a nearby towel and sloppily doused it in alcohol and draped it on Levi's torso, even though he was unconscious he hissed in agony. After a few minutes of heavy bandaging and splint tying, the nurses left Levi to rest. Eren sat on a nearby bed sobbing, Mikasa comforting him. Hanji walked over to Eren and crouched to meet his gaze. Her hands and arms were painted with their captain's blood.

"Levi will make it," Hanji said calmly while fighting back terms herself, "he just has to rest first. Go eat. I'll call you if anything happens."

Eren looked back over his shoulder before leaving. Levi lay bandaged and bloodied on the bed. But he had no idea that was the last time he'd ever see Levi alive again. Eren and Mikasa walked silently back to the mess hall. The mess hall was a sea of chatter on what other people had seen. Rumors flew across the room like dark clouds.

"I heard he was eaten, but cut himself out," one girl said.

"What?! No. He probably just fell of his horse, or hit a tree," another boy spoke up.

Suddenly the mess hall doors burst open. The room fell dead silent as a hound messenger looked at a piece of paper in his hand. It looked like the words hurt him as he tried to speak them.

"I-I...uh...Cap-...um..." he stuttered.

"Spit it out already!" Jean barked coldly.

"Captain Levi Rivaille is dead!" the young man yelled as fast as he could. The words froze Eren's blood and stung his ears.

The room stayed silent as looks of fear, dread, and disbelief spread across the faces of the hall. Eren heard himself talk, even though he didn't want to.

"H-how? It's only been five, ten minutes at most, since we brought him in. He was alive..."

The messenger's eyes flicked back to the note before he resumed talking.

"T-the cause of death...was mainly because of the extent of the injuries...along with blood loss and extreme trauma," the messenger ran out of the hall.

Eren's eyes shot open as the sat bolt upright in bed. His cold sweat mixed with his tears.

"He's gone," he mumbled over the lump in his throat, "Heichou's dead...and I'll never see him again."

Levi's room was locked. Nothing was touched or moved. The bed was exactly the way he made it. All the papers were left in the same place, undisturbed, on Levi's desk. The chair was exactly where he left it when he got up. It was as if he just walked out. The key was kept in Erwin's desk for safe keeping. It was decided that no one else would use the room, for any reason. Erwin said it was out of respect for Humanity's Strongest Soldier. Levi's gravestone and the gravestones of his squad, sat in a perfect row behind the castle. His white marble stone sat in the middle. Four black marble stones surrounded his; two on either side. Not a soul would ever go into Levi's room. That empty room at the end of the hall.

_Hi! My second fanfic. Character death and sadness, but still lots of effort. I stayed up till 1 A.M. writing for two days. 15% credit goes to my friend E. Fox who gave my the idea for ch. 2. Hope u enjoy.._


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